Wild chimps have near human understanding of fire, says study by ISU's Pruetz

Posted Dec 17, 2009

AMES, Iowa -- The use and control of fire are behavioral
characteristics that distinguish humans from other animals.
Now, a new study by Iowa State University anthropologist Jill
Pruetz reports that savanna chimpanzees in Senegal have a near
human understanding of wildfires and change their behavior in
anticipation of the fire's movement.

An ISU associate professor of anthropology, Pruetz and Thomas
LaDuke, an associate professor of biological sciences at East
Stroudsburg (Pa.) University, co-authored the paper, which will
be posted online Friday by the American Journal of Physical
Anthropology. It will be published in a 2010 edition of the
journal.

Data on the chimps' behavior with seasonal fires was
collected by Pruetz during two specific encounters in March and
April 2006. She reports that wildfires are set yearly by humans
for land clearing and hunting, and most areas within the
chimpanzees' home range experience burning to some degree.

Chimps have calm understanding of wildfires

The researchers interpret the chimpanzees' behavior to the
wildfires as being predictive, rather than responsive, in that
they showed no signals of stress or fear -- other than avoiding
the fire as it approached them.

"It was the end of the dry season, so the fires burn so
hot and burn up trees really fast, and they [the chimps] were
so calm about it. They were a lot better than I was, that's
for sure," said Pruetz, who was selected a 2008 National
Geographic Emerging Explorer for her previous research on the
savanna chimpanzees at the Fongoli research site in Senegal.

"They [the chimps] were experts at predicting where it was
going to go," she continued. "I could predict it,
sort of, but if it were just me, I would have left. At one
time, I actually had to push through them because I could feel
the heat from the fire that was on the side of me and I just
wasn't that comfortable with it."

Pruetz says it was hard to find previous research on how other
animals interacted with fire. But the few examples that she and
LaDuke found -- such as elephants' encounters with similar
wildfires -- reported that those animals were highly stressed
and experienced high mortality rates.

In their paper, the researchers wrote that the control of fire
by humans involves the acquisition of these three cognitive
stages:
1. Conceptualization of fire. An understanding of the behavior
under varying conditions that would allow one to predict its
movement, thus permitting activity in close proximity to the
fire.
2. The ability to control fire. Involving containment,
providing or depriving the fire of fuel and perhaps the ability
to put it out.
3. The ability to start a fire.

According to Pruetz, the Fongoli chimpanzees have mastered the
first stage, which is the prerequisite to the other two. But
she doesn't see them figuring out how to start a fire
anytime soon -- at least, not without help.

"I think they could learn. It might be difficult only
because of their dexterity, since they're less dexterous
than us," she said. "But naturally, I can't ever
see them making fire. I think cognitively they are able to
control it (stage 2)."

Displaying a new "fire dance"

Yet they are very aware of fire and its power. In fact, Pruetz
reports that the chimps have developed a unique "fire
dance."

"Chimps everywhere have what is called a 'rain
dance' -- Jane Goodall (a famed primatologist) coined that
term -- and it's just a big male display (to show
dominance)," she said. "Males display all the time
for a number of different reasons, but when there's a big
thunderstorm approaching, they do this real exaggerated display
-- it's almost like slow motion. And when I was with this
one party of chimps, the dominant male did the same sort of
thing, but it was towards the fire, so I call it the fire
dance.

"The other interesting thing was that I heard a
vocalization that I never heard before [the fire dance] and
I've never heard since," Pruetz continued.

She says the study provides insight into how the earliest human
ancestors first developed the ability to control fire.

"If chimps can understand and predict the movement of
fire, then maybe that's the thing that allowed some of the
very earliest bipedal apes [human ancestors] to eventually be
able to control fire," she said.

Pruetz will be continuing her research in Senegal during the
spring semester. It is sponsored, in part, by the National
Geographic Society, in addition to Iowa State.

Quick Look

A new study by Iowa State anthropologist Jill Pruetz reports
that savanna chimpanzees in Senegal have a near human
understanding of wildfires and change their behavior in
anticipation of the fire's movement.

Quote

"If chimps can understand and predict the movement of
fire, then maybe that's the thing that allowed some of the
very earliest bipedal apes [human ancestors] to eventually be
able to control fire."